Source: Washington Post
January 24 at 9:43 AM
Scientists have found evidence of the deadly Ebola virus in a bat in Liberia, the first time the virus has been found in a bat in West Africa, researchers and officials announced Thursday.
A team of scientists working with the government of Liberia presented their findings in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. The discovery represents a major step forward in understanding where human Ebola cases come from, one of the biggest unanswered questions surrounding these outbreaks, said Jonathan Epstein, a scientist with EcoHealth Alliance, a global nonprofit that is part of the research team.
No human cases of Ebola are linked to this discovery, scientists said. Liberia has reported no new human cases since the end of the 2014-2016 epidemic that devastated West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Bats have long been suspected of being a natural reservoir or animal host for Ebola, meaning the virus can live and grow inside the animals without harming them. But more than 40 years and over two dozen outbreaks after Ebola emerged in Central Africa, researchers still don’t know what animal or animals carry it, much less how it spreads to people.
“It’s been really difficult to get definitive evidence,” Epstein said.
The findings add to evidence suggesting that bats could serve as the natural wildlife carrier for Ebola, scientists said. The team found genetic material from the virus and antibodies in the bat’s blood, indicating the animal’s immune response against infection.
But Epstein and…
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